Tag: Ricardo Romero

Check this out: official UFC propaganda would have us believe that Rampage Jackson is actually out there somewhere working. They even have the nerve to pause on a calendar square labeled “JIU JITSU”, when we all know damn well that ‘Page would pull guard right after he lets someone hold an umbrella for him.

(When Romero says his grill has been "iced out" for the last couple months, he means that literally. PicProps: MMA Bay)

For a pro fighter, a lot of things seem atypical about Ricardo Romero. First off, as he tells Old Dad in an interview with MMA Fighting on Monday, Romero’s MMA career still plays second fiddle to his day job as an energy derivatives broker on Wall Street. Secondly, he admits he only started training to fight as a way to get over the depression of breaking up with his baby mama. Lastly, and most of interest to us here at the Potato, Romero managed to overcome a laundry list of injuries suffered during his UFC debut in July to defeat Seth Petruzelli by second-round arm bar.

Romero pretty much got the tar beat out of him for the first five-plus minutes of his bout against Petruzelli. Despite a 10-1 record compiled fighting on New Jersey’s independent scene – including victories over some known names like the UFC’s James McSweeney as well as TUF washouts Constantinos Phillippou and Karen Grigoryan – Romero looked completely unprepared for UFC action. He was “Octagon jitters” personified and his honesty on that subject is something else that is refreshing about the former Rutgers wrestler.

Petruzelli’s relationship with the UFC first began in 2005, when he was a contestant on TUF 2, eventually being eliminated by Brad Imes in the heavyweight semi-finals. Following the show, Petruzelli dropped consecutive fights to Matt Hamill and Wilson Gouveia as a light-heavyweight before being officially released by the UFC in 2007. Since then, he’s racked up four straight wins by first-round stoppage, opened a Smoothie King franchise as well as his own MMA gym, and was walked on a leash by Tom Lawlor at UFC 100. If that isn’t a resume worthy of a second chance, we don’t know what one is.

After the jump: UFC 116′s full lineup, and a picture of Seth and Tom that you’ll probably wish you hadn’t seen.